Jonathan Rockford has come a long way from his “failed career” of flying RC planes as a child. With a lot of curiosity and online research, the rising senior has just designed and built a quadcopter drone, which is slated for use by a local search and rescue team.

 

Rolling the drone in a large Pelican Case onto the Colorado Academy campus, Jonathan demonstrates its functionality for his teachers. Two batteries support this electrical ecosystem that can run for 20 minutes within a two-mile range. A camera, which can be moved up and down via remote control, sends a live video feed to a television screen embedded in the lid of the case. The GPS system, attached to the top of the drone, is able to give exact coordinates over a specific location.

 

According to Jonathan, who has volunteered for a search and rescue team for more than a year, a quadcopter — propelled by four rotors—“gives us an advantage in finding and rescuing people where we wouldn’t necessarily have one.”

 

And that’s the point of the project, which came to fruition as part of the Needs-Based Design Innovations course at Colorado Academy. In the class taught by Upper School science teacher Chris Roads, students identify a need in the community and then design a solution. It is part of the school’s series of Innovation Electives, all taught in a 1,300 square foot, two-story workspace with a CNC machine, laser cutter, 3-D printer, and more.

 

It’s not just the space, but the innovative mindset that teachers work to instill.

Says science teacher Chris Roads, “This kind of intrinsically-motivated, self-guided learning allows for a much deeper and holistic connection of new ideas because it is driven by our innate, fundamental desire to be competent and empowered within our own environment.”

 

Jonathan, who did much of his work in the Upper School Innovation Lab, pinpoints soldering the circuits as one of his greatest learning curves. For questions about flight, he visited the Innovations Flight Class at Colorado Academy during his free block. He scoured the Internet, reading sites like Flite Test, and learning from multiple sources on YouTube. For other questions, he found his own creative solutions — like making a cover for the drone out of a spray-painted soda bottle.

 

Hovering over Wright Field on the CA campus is the result of all that innovation. The live video feed provides spectators an HD-quality perspective on the screen. As the drone comes in for a not-so-soft landing, Upper School Principal Jon Vogels begs the almost rhetorical question of “Why not just buy a drone?” Of course, the learning comes in the building of it.

 

“This way if it breaks,” says Jonathan, “we’ll be able to repair individual parts instead of replacing the whole machine.” He also says it is customizable for search and rescue needs. He is not alone in his thinking.

 

According to news reports, “squadrons of drones” were used in the aftermath of Nepal’s 2015 earthquakes, according to CNN, flying over mountain roadways that were blocked by landslides. The goal was to locate injured or trapped people, and determine whether rescue crews could reach them. In the U.S., the Federal Aviation Administration has given clearance to some law enforcement and rescue agencies to use drones, and the FAA has been working to develop new rules that will safely and more broadly integrate drones into U.S. airspace. The agency also has awarded some businesses — from film companies to land surveyors — permits to use drones on a case-by-case basis.

 

No doubt, this student will be ready to take part in the anticipated explosion of drone-based business. He built his second, smaller and faster drone in just two days.

 

“Authentic, hands-on projects such as these allow students to learn in the most natural, organic way possible,” says Roads. “And they demonstrate to people of all ages that we can all enjoy being life-long learners en route to making the world a better place.”